Which Soundcard Should I Get?

[Daliger]

Wut it b

So, I got a new headset, and I'm told that the performance of it will skyrocket if I get an actual dedicated soundcard. However, I don't know which one to get! There's too many to choose from. 

I know I can just google this shiz, but I'd really like to know what fellow Fearless Assassins think and/or have. 

So, what's the deal?

[rabbit]

Have a look at this, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=CNjdzPTP1L8CFVFp7AodShMA2Q&Item=N82E16829132052&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Sound+Cards-_-N82E16829132052&ef_id=U8uSPwAABEuTNm56:20140720192826:s I'm using it now and it's pretty sweet.

[Daliger]

Have a look at this, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=CNjdzPTP1L8CFVFp7AodShMA2Q&Item=N82E16829132052&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Sound+Cards-_-N82E16829132052&ef_id=U8uSPwAABEuTNm56:20140720192826:s I'm using it now and it's pretty sweet.

 

I believe you, but unfortunately, I need a 7.1 soundcard to go with the 7.1 headset

 

That one's 5.1 D:

[Achiyan]

my onboard is 5.1 and my turtle beaches are 7.1 but i dont care for the extra 2 'speakers.' maybe i'll get a soundcard but i think i'll stick to getting a new MoBo since mine is a tad bit old >.< (going on 5 years now. lol.) im sure i can find a 7.1 SPDIF MoBo.

[rabbit]

I believe you, but unfortunately, I need a 7.1 soundcard to go with the 7.1 headset

 

That one's 5.1 D:

Have a look here, mate http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3759080&CatId=2771

[JoeDirt]

What kind of onboard do you have? I remember reading a study that was done few years back on one of the audiophile website  between different sound cards and most people could not tell the difference. My suggestion is just get a headphone amp.

[Daliger]

What kind of onboard do you have? I remember reading a study that was done few years back on one of the audiophile website  between different sound cards and most people could not tell the difference. My suggestion is just get a headphone amp.

 

"Onboard PC audio gets better! MSI is the first to implement the most high-end HD Audio codecs available. Don’t be fooled by other inferior audio solutions onboard (sometimes you can’t even find the driver!) Only MSI offers the Loss-less 24-bit/192KHz HD Audio function with an incredible 109 SNR dB value to provide the most clear & vivid HD audio quality and support 7.1 channels surround sound playback with a 2-channel independent stereo output (multiple streaming) through the front panel 3.5 inch phone jack."

 

That's what the website says. So, yeah, onboard sound does yield the 7.1 I need. I wanted a dedicated card because my cousin has the same headset as me, and said when he got a dedicated soundcard, it really made a nice difference. Maybe I'll just go with that you said, joe

[razi]

i noticed a huge difference when i upgraded from onboard to creative titanium HD soundcard...of course it depends on how good your headphones are too

[JoeDirt]

i noticed a huge difference when i upgraded from onboard to creative titanium HD soundcard...of course it depends on how good your headphones are too

Only thing that is different between this card and his onboard is 13 db SNR, @ daliger imo you might not even need a headset amp.

 

[Daliger]

Only thing that is different between this card and his onboard is 13 db SNR, @ daliger imo you might not even need a headset amp.

 

Hmmm... Idk anything about sound tech, so I'll take your word on it.. For now, at least  

 

I'll take a listen to my cousin's setup and see if I notice any big difference, since we have the same headset

[razi]

i have sensitive ears and i can notice a difference A/B blind with files encoded in mp3 vs flac

 

@joedirt: the card has a built in headphone amp which are swappable to be customizable, so you do not need to buy an external one. does his motherboard solution have that? it makes a difference for me

@daliger which headset? of course, listen to your cousins setup and see if you like it, but it will be tough to remember what ur setup sounds like. my advice is pick some high quality FLAC music files that you know very well and bring them with you on a usb jump drive...

[Daliger]

It's the uh, Razer Tiamat 7.1. And listening to some songs that I jam to all the time.. Alright. Thanks joe, razi, and rabbit for the help/responses! 

[SunLight]

i have sensitive ears and i can notice a difference A/B blind with files encoded in mp3 vs flac

At which bitrate you start not telling them apart if I may ask, I am curious about this

[Vanaraud]

Not expert on this but recently checked couple of cheaper sound cards and to my suprise I discovered 40-50$ ones use the same Realtek audio chips as most of the motherboards do. So I doubt if its really worth to put 50 bucks on a thing you already have... I wouldn´t make a difference anyways so I wouldn´t know. If you wan´t to listen to good quality music get a LP player;)

Just my 2 cents.

[TulsaGeoff]

I don't think the performance will skyrocket unless your motherboard has a terrible onboard chip. I used to go for the creative cards back in the day, but I don't see it being worth it these days. That's just my opinion and it may be entirely wrong... I would think that a dedicated headphone amp with audiophile grade headphones would make a much bigger difference. 

 

Let's say you can download a ultra high quality music format (like FLAC) from content that was originally recorded in it... My normal usage involves spotify, youtube, gaming, etc. If the difference can only be heard on the FLAC or equivalent content, it would be hard for me to justify the cost.

 

I would look into loud external speakers, SSD, dedicated raid card and another ssd to run raid 0, more ram, mechanical switch keyboard, etc.